Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,133

Jake both know how to do chores. Ian’s learning to cook, and so is Archie. He built the robotic vacuum, and then he and Jake just built a litter scooper that’s better than the one they sell…”

Rachel laughed. “He’s building toys to do chores.”

“Right?” I spread my hands. “It’s adorable and aggravating and…my life is good. And in a couple of weeks, I’ll be going to court and hopefully severing my last tie to Maddy.”

“It’s still a lot,” she said and rubbed my back. “Ice cream? Epic fail videos?”

“Oh my god, yes.”

Our lives took on a new rhythm. One that definitely helped with the stress. Twice a week, I went to the gym with Jake and worked on my punching. It was fun. Archie tagged along once, and he actually got Jake into the ring to spar. That was highly entertaining. Archie also had more skills than he’d let on.

Ian and I still worked on music, and he had me playing more than three chords on the guitar. Coop continued to spend more time with his family, but we’d taken Trina to the movies and we’d had Trina come over to my place, too.

It was still a struggle for her, but when I told her I had a therapist too, she’d lost some of her defensive edge. The fact that his dad was showing up at the apartment was grating on him, and honestly, I got that. I still couldn’t believe Maddy had done that. While I didn’t actively avoid going over there if I knew his dad was going to be present, I had no idea what to say to him.

Mr. Standish was bad enough, and I’d only seen him once recently when I’d been at the office. He’d stopped by a meeting Bryan and I had been attending. When he’d taken the time to talk to Bryan and me, I kept it polite and to the neutral topic of the internship. At least I could tell him honestly that I’d been enjoying some of our work.

We were in research and development for two weeks because it covered so many areas, and the labs were just cool. Suddenly, I could see exactly what Archie would be doing when he came to Standish to work. Though, I refrained from bringing that up.

The guys surprised me on the morning of Valentine’s with roses and breakfast in bed, followed by the invitation to go out on a date with all of them that night after they picked me up at Standish. Apparently, they’d taken a vote, and Valentine’s—like Christmas—was a group holiday going forward.

Archie got me a locket heart and key charm for my bracelet. Ian gave me a musical note pendant on a chain necklace. Jake found the most adorable stuffed cat that looked exactly like Tiddles and my very own pair of boxing gloves in cherry red. Coop held up a jar of candied hearts with a coupon book attached to the front. “There’s chocolates, too,” he promised. “But I didn’t think you’d want to eat those for breakfast.”

I laughed, but the coupon book made me laugh harder.

It had coupons like redeem for one orgasm. Redeem for a cock to blow. Redeem for foot massage. Redeem for an evening of pampering. A lot of other sexual favors were included in the various offers, but my favorite one was the last one.

Redeem for whatever you need.

“Dammit,” Archie said. “Outdone by something you probably could have made in elementary school.”

I swatted him and laughed, even if my face was red. “He could not have offered me a cock to blow in elementary school.”

“No, but I could have in junior high,” Coop said with a wink, and I grinned. “Besides, don’t get your panties in a twist, Archie. I just happen to know how to be the favorite.”

That got him playfully pummeled by Jake and Ian. However, I hugged my cat, my jar of candies, my necklace, and my charm. “I love them all, don’t be silly.”

They were still grinning when I reached for my phone.

“Which reminds me, I need to give you your gifts.”

“You didn’t have to get us anything, Baby Girl. We have you as our Valentine.” Jake gave my foot a squeeze, and Ian grinned.

“That was smooth, man.” Ian fist bumped him.

“Thank you, I liked it.”

I rolled my eyes, but opened the password protected file on my phone and uploaded the whole set to the shared cloud they’d set up over Christmas. Each of their phones pinged, and I traded